Established in 1999, the OECD-Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance serves as a regional forum for exchanging experiences and advancing the reform agenda on corporate governance while promoting awareness and use of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. It brings together policy makers, practitioners and experts on corporate governance from the Asian region, OECD countries and relevant international organisations. The Roundtable:
conducts informal peer reviews of corporate governance policy frameworks and practices, benefitting from international experience
raises awareness of major developments and challenges
evaluates implementation and enforcement
discusses and analyses policy options to support viable and effective corporate governance reforms
A consensus roadmap for reform
In 2003, Roundtable participants agreed on an action plan for improving corporate governance in Asia: the White Paper on Corporate Governance in Asia. Since then, the White Paper has spurred a series of initiatives, including reviews of existing legislation, the adoption of international accounting standards, the establishment of institutes of directors, the introduction of codes of best practices and the setting up of investor associations.
Endorsed at the 2011 Roundtable meeting, Reform Priorities in Asia: Taking Corporate Governance to a Higher Level updates of the White Paper to to address emerging challenges in Asia's corporate governance landscape. This consensus report defines corporate governance reform priorities and makes recommendations that reflect the specific conditions and needs within Asia. It includes an overview of corporate governance frameworks in 13 Asian economies.
Asean Corporate Governance Scoreboard
ADB releases the first ever ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard which uses the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance as the main benchmark.
The OECD Principles of Corporate Governance were used as the main benchmark for developing the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (2012). The scorecard ranks the top listed companies in Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and is being adopted by each country as their own. The scorecard is perceived as a diagnostic tool to improve corporate governance standards, using an international benchmark, of ASEAN publicly listed companies. The OECD participated in developing the methodology, in co-operation with the ADB.
Taskforce on Enforcement
In 2012, the Asian Roundtable established a Taskforce on Enforcement to develop a good practices report on public enforcement and supervision in Asia. The Taskforce is currently engaged in conducting a survey of participating jurisdictions to determine the current practices and policies regarding public enforcement and supervision and identify the key challenges and obstacles.